Toy vehicle



3nventbr 3 Sheets-Sheet l A. R. THOMAS TOYYEHICLE Filed Jdly 25, 1939 Aug. 19,1941.

Aug. 19, 1941. A. R moms 2,252,995

TOY vzurcm:

Filed Jul 25,1939 s Sheets-Sheet 2 J 3 bentor flrfiar 2 7/70; as, a x

Aug. 19, 1941.

A. R. THOMAS TOY vEHIcLE Filed July 25, 1939 s Sheds-Sheet 5 the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Patented Aug. 19, 1941 UNITED STATES {PATENT OFFICE TOY VEHICLE Arthur R. Thomaa'Dtroit. Mich.

Application July 25, 1939, Serial No. 287,302

(or. 2s 1.19)

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to vehicles and more particularly to toy vehicles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel childs toy vehicle from which fun,

and at the same time healthful exercise are dew :rived.

Another object of the present invention is to .provide a rocking horse vehicle which when the horse is rocked causeslocomotion of the vehicle giving the general sensation of riding a real horse.

Other objects of the invention reside in the particular construction andarrangement of parts Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View showing certain 20 details of construction of the toy and taken along Fig. 5is a cross sectionalview showing certain details of construction of the toy andtaken along the hire 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view showing certain details of construction of the toy and taken along the line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is across sectional view showing certain details of construction of the toy and taken along the line 'I-l of Fig. l, and

Fig. 8.is a cross sectional view showing certain details of construction of the toy and taken along the line 88 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the toy rocking horse operated vehicle shown, includes a frame Ill supported on'front and rear wheels ,H and [2 respectively, these wheels preferably being provided with rubber tires for easy operation. The frame In includes a pair of longitudinal frame members l3, M

which are flat upright members, spaced apart and rigidly secured together by cross members I5, IS, ll, [8, l9 and which are arranged at spaced intervals along the length of the frameand may be secured thereto by bolts and nuts or by other suitable means. As is more clearly shown in Fig. 8, the rear wheels I2 are mounted on a rotatable axle 2| which extends through i which the axle 2| is freely rotatab1e,.these bearings 23 respectively abutting the inner faces of spaced relation on the axle 2|.

v-belt2'l from a drive wheel 28. the frame; a roller 21, in engagement with the the wheel hubs thus holding the wheels inproper The upperends of the brackets 22 are apertured to fit respectively over the bearings 23-which are externally threaded to receive nuts 24 which rigidly secure .the brackets and their respectivebearingstogether.

As shown in Fig. 2, the rear wheels I2. are.held inproperalignment; relative to the frame [0, by brackets orbraces 22 which are of general -V-shapehaving their inner spaced ends rigidly secured respectively to the frame members l3 and I4. The legs of each of the V-shaped, braces 22 converge outwardly-and-join in a flattened portion which is provided with an aperture to receive the bearings 23 to whichthe braces 22 ar rigidly secured-by the nuts 24. One of the rear wheels 12: is fixed to the axle 2|, as at25, to rotatetherewith, this wheel beingthedriving wheel and the other twheel. is preferably freeon Mounted on the axle .2 I, and-fixed thereto in frame members I3, [4, is a wheel 26 drivenlby a Mountedon belt 21, may be provided and be bodily movable ,in any suitablemanner to. tightenor loosen the belt 21, as desired. The. drive wheel '28 is rotatably supported by a stubshaft 29, mounted in a plate 30 which is rigidly secured to th frame member [3 inwardly thereof,see Fig. '7.

Mounted on the frame between and .parallel with the frame members l3, I4 is an operating member .or lever 32 which may be in the form of a rocking horse which is operable by rocking the same to drive or give locomotion to the vehicle., The member 32 is mounted on the frame in a manner such that in operation, the member or horse 32 has a moving fulcrum giving a forward than the lower pivot points thereof and the arms 33 preferably being shorter in length than the arms 34, as shown in Fig. 1. The provision of a moving fulcrum for the horse; giving the horse a '=slight forward and rearwardrmovement gives'to the rider somewhat the sensation of riding a real horse, and I have found that by making the front arms 33 shorter than the rear arms 34 that the action of the horse is easier than is the case if the arms are of the same length. In order to steady the horse, or limit side movement thereof, a pair of guide braces 35 are provided, one on each side of the horse, and these braces are pivotally connected at their lower ends to the frame side members I3, I4 respectively, above the arms 33, 34 and near the top of the frame members. The lower ends of the guide braces 35 may be pivotally connected to the side frame members by pins 36, secured in and to the frame members,

these pins 36 projecting inwardly and being provided with spacer members 31 which space the bracket 35 from the inner wall surfaces of the frame members, as shown in Fig. 4. The upper ends of the braces are slotted as shown to receive opposite end portions of a pin or bolt which is secured in and extends through the member 32, the bolt having threaded end portions to receive nuts for retaining the braces in place. i

f A pair of plate'members 39, rigidly secured, one to each side of th horsepdepe'nd therefrom providing an extensionjand extending between v, and pivoted to the lower ends of the plate members is one endof a connecting rod orlink 46, the other end of the linkhaving a bearing 4! to rotatablyr'eceive a crank pin Which is secured in and to the drive wheel 28 offcenterthereof.

A seat43 may berigidly secured on the member 32 adjacent the rear end thereof and suitably located foot rests Mn aybe rigidly secured, one toeach of the frame side members I 3, l4 'out- 'wardly thereof. It will be seen, that a rider may by force of his Weight rock or pivot the horse in a clockwise direction, Fig. 1, which will pull the link or'rod tll forward, rotatingwheel 28 which 'through the beltZ'l will drive wheel 26 and axle Z! to rotate the jl'givinglocomotion to the vehicle; V

f Connected to the operating member or horse 32-], on the opposite side of t'hefulcrum thereof rear ground drive wheel thus,

fromthe seat 43 is'one end of a helical coil spring 45,;the other or lower end of the spring preferably being attached to one end of a turnbuckle .46 which is anchored to a bracket 4 secured to the frame cross member !6. For' best results, the spring 45 is arranged atan angle with the lower end thereof arranged rearwardly of the upper end. When the horse is rocked in. a clockr ,wise direction, Fig.1, byweight of the rideron seat 43, the spring 45 is tensioned and when the rider rises and places his or. her weight on the ,foot supports 44, the force of spring 45 acting on the horse through rockers 33, 3t, link M3, wheel I 28, belt 2 drives the rear wheel I2 and rocks or pivots the horse in the opposite direction. Thus, it will be seen that application of a persons weight pivoting member 32in a clockwise direction, Fig. 1, drives the vehicle and that such movement tensions spring 45 which upon being .releasedby the. rider exerts its forcefor also driving the vehicle'and in so doing rocks the may be attached to a turnbuckle 49 which may be anchored to the frame, as at 50, Fig. 1.

Referring now to the front wheel suspension of the frame and to the steering mechanism, as is more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the front wheels H are mounted for free rotation on an axle 52, spaced apart by a rigid cross member 53 which is located immediately belcw the axle 52 and provided with upturned end portions 55 which are apertured to receive the axle, the inner surfaces of the wheels hubs being spaced from the cross member upturned portions 5 by Washers or spacer members 55. The frame extends be- 7 tween the axle 52 and the cross member 53, and

the frame cross member i5 seats, or rests on the cross member 53. The frame cross member I5 is a hollow rectangular member, as shown in Fig.

'3 and within member if is provided a vertically extending hollow tube 56 aligning with apertures in the top and bottom of the cross member IE ture dtoreceive the axle 52, the vehicle frame being suspended from the axle 52 by the suspension member 58 and being supported by the Wheel cross member 53 A pair of extension plates 3i equally spaced on opposite sides of the'bolt 5? are rigidly secured to the Wheel cross members 53, such as by means of rivets 62, and project forward of the axle, as shown in Fig, 2, A pair of trans .versely extending plate-like arms 53 are rigidly securedat their outer ends as at M, respectively to the forward ends. of the extension members .iii, the inner ends of the arms being pivotally connected together and to one end of a longitudinally extending plate-like push rod fifi'by a suitable .pivot pin which may be a bolt 66. The

member 65 extends rearwardlyof the vehicle and is pivoted intermediate its ends to the frame cross member Hi, the bolt which holds the anchor bracket 41 of the spring #5 also serving asthe pivot for the member 65, see Fig. 4. A T-shaped steering member or lever is pivoted, as at 68, to

.the frame'cross member 18 to pivot substantially horizontally, and an arm 69 thereof extends forwardly and is provided with a slot which extends longitudinally of the arm 69 and receives a bolt 'lfiprovided in the rear free end of the member 65 to permit the .arm and lever to pivot. From the pivot 68 of the T-lever, oppositely disposed integral arms H extend outwardly, Fig. 2, and seating on each of the arms 1 i adjacent the outer ends thereof is a U-shaped pivoted yoke or clevis 12 which may be pivotally connected to respective arms in any suitable manner. Pivoted to each clevis i2 is a link 13 which extend parallel and forward having their forwardends pivotally connected respectively to the lower ends of a pair of upright steering levers It which are provided with reenforcing members i5, see Fig. 5,

and are'pivoted respectively to the frame memvbers l3, M, as at 16. On their upper ends, the

steering levers 14 are provided with horizontally extending handles T! for convenience of steering and these handles also 'serve to aid the riders to retain their balance in the up and down motion required to operate the vehicle. It will be secn that in steering the vehicle when one of the levers 14 is pushed forward the other is moved rearward and vice-versa.

While I have herein shown and described in detail, a toy vehicle for children in which the rocking of a member imparts locomotion to the vehicle, it will readily be understood that the rocking member need not necessarily be in the form or pictured as a horse and that various other changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention which is to, be limited only by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1; A toy vehicle comprising, a frame including a pair of longitudinal frame members mounted on ground engaging wheels, a rockable member disposed between and extending longitudinally of said frame members, a pair of spaced arms on each side of said rockable member, each pair of arms having upper ends pivoted to said rockable member and having lower ends pivoted to said frame members, means acting to rock said rock-' able member in one direction, a seat on said rookable member on which a person may sit and rock said member, drive means for the rear ground wheels, and means operatively connecting said rockable member and said drive means.

2. A toy vehicle comprising, a frame including a pair of longitudinal frame members mounted on front and rear ground engaging wheels, a, rockable member disposed between and extending longitudinally of said frame members, a pairof spaced arms on each side of said rockable member and disposed intermediate the ends thereof, said arms having upper ends pivoted to said rockable member and having lower spaced ends pivoted to said frame members, means acting to rock said rockable member in one direction, said rockable member having a seat on which a person may sit to rock said rockable member in the opposite direction, drivev means for the rear wheels of the vehicle, and means operatively connecting said drive means and said rockable member.

3. A toy vehicle comprising, a frame including a pair of longitudinal frame members mounted on front and rear ground engaging wheels, a rockable member disposed between and extending longitudinally of said frame members, a pair of spaced arms on each side of said rockable member and disposed intermediate the ends thereof, said arms having upper ends pivoted to said rockable member and having lower spaced ends pivoted to said frame members, means acting to rock said rockable member in one direction, said rockable member having a seat on which a person may sit to rock said rockable member in the opposite direction, crank means for the rear wheels, and a connecting rod having one end connected to said crank means and having its other end connected to said rockable member intermediate the arms of said pair of arms.

4. A toy vehicle comprising, a frame including a pair of longitudinal frame members mounted on front and rear ground engaging wheels, a rockable member disposed between and extending substantially parallel with said frame members, a pair of spaced arms on each side of said rockable member, said arms having upper ends pivoted to said rockable member and having lower ends pivoted to said frame members, spring means anchored to and adjacent the front end of said frame and connected to said rockable member forwardly of said arms, said spring means being operable to rock said rockable member in one direction, said rockable member having a seat on which a person may sit and rock said rockable member in the opposite direction, spring means anchored to said frame and connected to the rear arms intermediate the ends thereof, said second spring means acting to rock said rockable member in said one direction, drive means for the rear wheels, and means operatively connecting said drive means and said rockable member.

ARTHUR R. THOMAS. 

